Ukraine, Russia & CIS

On Tuesday (7 February 2017) EU leaders in Brussels took steps to boost the European Union’s support to the economic development of Azerbaijan and Belarus. On the same day, they had to acknowledge a growing split with Moldova and its new ‘Russia first’ policy. Azerbaijan, Belarus moving closer to the EU …

Russia has requested WTO consultations with the EU last Friday on European anti-dumping duties imposed on imports of certain cold-rolled flat steel products originating from Russia, formally initiating a dispute in the WTO. The move is a response to EU antidumping duties retroactively applied on Russian producers from 18.7 …

The dispute settlement body of the World Trade Organization has found Russia’s antidumping duties imposed on light commercial vehicles from Germany and Italy to violate the Antidumping Agreement of the WTO and Article VI of the GATS. In 2013, Russia imposed duties of 29.6 percent on German van imports …

Belarus might perhaps not quite be “the last dictatorship in Europe”. But it is definitely the last country in Europe that is not a member of the World Trade Organization. The former Soviet country and member of the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union has recently been reforming its economy, which has been …

This article was written in collaboration with Carmen Valache from our editorial partner, the Wider Europe specialist BNE Intellinews After calling off its deep and comprehensive free trade agreement (DCFTA) with the EU in 2013 in order to join the Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), Armenia is now pursuing a revamped …

The European Parliament (EP) has agreed today (19 January) to grant Belarus quota-free access to the EU for its textile products. The move is a political gesture towards Minsk as part of a recent rapprochement with Belarus initiated in the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis. The European Commission …

A bill submitted to the Dutch Parliament by Mark Rutte greenlighting the Dutch government’s ratification of the EU Ukraine Association Agreement is likely to pass the final hurdle in the upper house, sources say. The deal faced uncertainty after a compromise declaration adopted by EU member state in 15 December. The Christian Democratic …

EU leaders managed to find wording acceptable to all 28 EU member states on the declaration requested by the Netherlands during a Council meeting today. A major hurdle to the final adoption of the Association Agreement and its in-built deep and comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU’s eastern neighbour has …

Today, EU member states are expected to adopt a Dutch-sponsored declaration on the EU Ukraine Association agreement. The Netherlands insisted on such a declaration as a means to respond to a referendum in April 2016 in which voters rejected the agreement that all other member states and the EU institutions …

The European Parliament has lifted its opposition to lifting restrictions on imports of textiles from Uzbekistan by a strong majority of votes (564 in favour). The restrictions were due to be lifted in 2011, but the legislative body withheld its consent until the International Labour Organization be let into the …